Four Performances

I flipped through a little of Sunday's Emmys. (The show itself was unworthy of the performances it was meant to honor. Note: never, never, never again with the rotating reality hosts. Professional. Comedian. Please.)

I did catch Martin Sheen's bit on the West Wing set. He had a line about how the show won Emmys for everyone involved except him. Unfortunately for Marty, he was very well deserving but ran up against a big breathy award buzz saw named James Gandolfini most years. The line was one of the few laughs on the portion of the show I watched, and it got me thinking of some tv peeps I thought got jobbed. (I have no way of knowing, of course, which episodes in a given year were submitted for consideration, but I'm going with my gut.)

Let's start off with the above mentioned Martin Sheen, The West Wing, "The Two Cathedrals" I don't know much Latin, but it's easy to understand the frustration with the almighty here...




Haec credam a deo pio, a deo justo, a deo scito?
Am I to believe these things from a righteous God, a just God, a wise God?

"Cruciatus in crucem
To Hell with your punishments

uus in terra servus, nuntius fui; officium perfeci
I was your servant, your messenger on the earth, I did my duty.

Cruciatus in crucem (with a dismissive wave of the hand) eas in crucem
The Hell with your punishments! And to Hell with you!"

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Hugh Laurie, House, Three Stories

Will someone give this man an Emmy already? In exchange for getting out of a couple hours of clinic duty, House agrees to give a lecture. It starts off rather sedately, and the lecture hall is somewhat empty...but the place starts to fill as House begins to tell the story of a third patient...one who starts off looking like Carmen Electra, but ending up revealing how the not so good Dr. got his famous limp. One of the best episodes of series TV I've seen in the last few years. Catch a clip from this ep (worked in with a buncha others) here

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Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "The Body"

Okay, I'm biased. I'll admit it. I love the SMG. Also, any list of my top five shows of all time would have to include Buffy even if it had ended after Season 2 (a fantastic example of arc storytelling by Joss Whedon). Also, the show was mostly about a girl who killed vampires with a stake; explaining, perhaps, the lack of Emmy love through the years. Nevertheless, in this famous episode, after years of watching people die unpredictably from supernatural causes our heroine endures watching her mother die of something much, much worse--sudden, unexpected natural causes. Everything from the shock to the acceptance rings true and SMG nails it.






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Anthony Edwards, ER, "Love's Labor Lost"

For me, ER jumped the proverbial shark when Mark Greene had his brain tumor. After that, I found it hard to care for the revolving cast of characters. It's been on the air for so long it's easy to remember just how damn good and revolutionary it was when it first aired. This episode, where Mark, Carter and the crew attempt to save a troubled delivery, is remarkable (also features a pre-West Wing Bradley Whitford). Instead of James Gandolfini, I think Anthony ran into the 90s Emmy buzzsaw of Dennis Franz. The performance is crazy good. Here's a lengthy clip, worth the time.